State Lawmaker Under Fire for Tipping Off Illegal Aliens to ICE Raids

While it has been suspected for months that President Donald Trump would eventually crack down on “sanctuary cities” harboring criminal illegal immigrants, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it perfectly clear on Tuesday that just such a thing is about to happen exactly as predicted.

Of course, such a move was bound to spark increased resistance from Democrats who favor and protect illegal immigrants as a sort of constituency, which means it should be no surprise that a Massachusetts state lawmaker took to social media to breathlessly warn illegal immigrants in her district of potential impending raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to The Daily Caller.

Democrat state Rep. Michelle DuBois wrote, “ICE raid in Brockton on 3/28 and 29th. If you get picked up by ICE call legal services direct line for immigration help: 774-488-5961.”

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“I got the following information from my friend in the Latin community: ‘I have a message for the immigrant community of Brockton. Please be careful on Wednesday 29. ICE will be in Brockton on that day. If you are undocumented don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house and you don’t know who it is, don’t open the door. I ask you to be careful.”

DuBois followed that up by posting a graphic explaining “What to do if ICE comes to your door,” which essentially boils down to being as uncooperative as possible at every turn.

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Take a look:

The initial post, which has since been either taken down or set to a private setting, was flooded with critical comments toward the legislator, who admittedly began deleting them, stating she wasn’t interested in having a debate and only wanted to “raise awareness” in the community.

WBZ reported that DuBois further defended her controversial post when asked about it by reporters Tuesday evening, reading aloud a prepared statement.

“Passing information along that is already all over the community not only lets the people I represent know what is happening. It lets ICE know that everyone in Brockton is aware of their intended raid if there was one,” stated DuBois.

She added that she didn’t think what she had done constituted obstruction of justice, and even though she admitted that she hadn’t taken the time to confirm the information with ICE before spreading it. She clearly didn’t see anything wrong with perpetuating a rumor that was potentially false.

Though DuBois received support for her warning post from illegal immigrant advocacy groups, that support was overwhelmed by criticism from not just taxpaying citizens but some of her colleagues and law enforcement agencies as well.

“Any person who actively incites panic or fear of law enforcement is doing a disservice to the community, endangering public safety and the very people they claim to support and represent,” declared ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer, according to the Boston Herald, adding that ICE never conducts “random sweeps” or releases information about impending operations.

“I think at worst it puts lives in danger,” said Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl, co-chairman of Trump’s campaign in the state. “I think at best it’s a question of ethics. If you’re a lawmaker, where you vote on policy, your job is not to undermine current law.”

Brockton is the county seat of Plymouth County. The Brockton police declined to comment on the post, and Mayor Bill Carpenter would only say through a spokesman, “We do not comment on unsubstantiated Facebook posts, even if the source is a state representative.”

But one law enforcement agent who would comment was Thomas Hodgson, sheriff of neighboring Bristol County, who criticized DuBois’s post while testifying before a House committee in Washington. In an interview with the Herald later, he said, “This is an elected official that is potentially giving a heads-up to criminals that otherwise would be picked up through the element of surprise during a raid. That’s giving them cover.”

Indeed, an argument can easily be made that DuBois crossed the line from merely sharing information to raise awareness into actually aiding and abetting fugitive criminals and illegal immigrants, serious prosecutable crimes.

It remained to be seen if DuBois will face any repercussions for her posting.

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